Against the wind

The track and field season for most Valley schools got under way at the Palmer Invitational Friday under bleak conditions at Palmer High School.

Athletes from Palmer, Colony, Wasilla, Su Valley, Matanuska Christian and Anchorage Christian not only battled each other during the meet, they also had to contend with cold, wind and rain conditions that hampered them throughout the event.

"It's not so much the cold, but the wind that gets to you," said Colony runner Ryan Snyder. "When running distances, you tuck in behind other runners and draft them. We brought plenty of clothes and huddle around each other between events to stay warm."

Anchorage Christian School won the boys' event with 125 points, with Colony finishing second with 115 points. Palmer tallied 111 points to take third, followed by Wasilla, Matanuska Christian and Su Valley.

Palmer ran away with the girls' event, earning 150 points to easily win over second-place Colony with 76. Wasilla finished third, followed by Anchorage Christian School, Su Valley and Matanuska Christian.

The continued cold weather forced some events to be scratched from the meet. The long jump and triple jump were not included because the landing pits could not be used.

"We didn't even plan those events because the pits are frozen solid," said Palmer athletic director Jim Simmons.

The shot put events for boys and girls joined the high jump as an indoor event for the meet, with shot put athletes using plastic shots in the upper terrace of the Palmer gym.

Rene Dixon of Palmer won the girls' event with a throw of 34 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Wasilla's Betsie Erickson finished second.

Dave Martin of Matanuska Christian School got the most from his five days of high jumping experience with a second-place finish in the boys' high jumping event. Martin, who started practicing for the high jump Monday, leaped to a height of 5-6 to take second place.

"I'm a visual person -- the coach told me what to do and it ended up happening," Martin said. "I was going to be happy with 5 feet, 4 inches, but I was able to get past that."

Martin finished second to Jeff Scantlin of Anchorage Christian School, who cleared 5-8 to take the event.

Annie Rauchenstein of Su Valley finished third in the girls' high jump. Rauchenstein is also brand new to the high jump event but showed good poise and technique.

"I'm pretty happy with what I did," she said. "I have only practiced two times so I had no idea if I was doing it right or not."

Claire Warren battled the outside conditions to pace Wasilla's 800-meter relay team to an early lead.

"Trying to keep pace in this weather is difficult," she said. "The cold slows you down because you get tighter faster."

Katie Cunningham, who ran in the girls' 1,600 relay for Palmer, didn't mind the rain.

"The rain gets you pepped up," she said. "The cold gets to you and slows you down. My time was definitely slower."